Skates typically are dedicated to a single activity or sporting use, namely ice skates, roller skates or in-line roller skates. Generally, the assembly or tuck housing the ice skate blade or rollers is securely and permanently attached to the sole of a skate boot or shoe.
More recently, attempts have been made in providing interchangeable or convertible skates where skate boots have been provided with detachable assemblies which includes the ice blades, toe and heel roller or in-line roller assemblies. The use of such interchangeable skates provides the ability, in the case of ice skates and in-line roller skates, to easily switch between ice hockey and in-line roller skating without the need and expense associated with providing separate skates for each activity. Thus, for example, a hockey player using an interchangeable skate could use the same pair of skate boots or shoes with ice blades to play ice hockey and then, with the removal of the ice blades and the attachment of an in-line roller assembly to the same boot or shoe, use the skate for in-line roller skating. Such interchangeable skates also provide the user with an opportunity to have a second replacement set of ice blades, in-line roller assemblies, etc., for immediate use in the case of damage or dulling of the pair of blades or roller assemblies attached to the user's skate boots.
For example, as detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,734 to Steinhauser, Jr., although numerous convertible or replaceable skates have been previously proposed, the skate art still lacks a commercially viable interchangeable skate which is capable of supporting the high lateral torque forces exerted during skating. In this regard, Steinhauser proposes to remedy this deficiency by attaching an adapter plate having a central portion and depending peripheral sidewall forming a recessed cavity to a shoe body. The adapter plate detachably receives a complimentary shaped attachment plate forming a part of an interchangeable attachment. A plurality of different attachments, each having a distinct use, may be interchangeably mounted in the adapter plate. The adapter plate is fixedly connected to the sole of the shoe body or integrally molded as a unitary part of the shoe body to the sole of the shoe body. Fasteners mounted on the adapter plate releasably engage the attachment plate for releasably mounting the attachment to the shoe body.
However, the solution provided by Steinhauser, Jr. requires a number of separate actions to attach and detach the attachment plate, thereby rendering the attachment and detachment process time consuming. For example, each fastening means provided on the adapter plate has to be separately rotated about a pivoting point to secure the attachment plate to the adapter plate. Furthermore, each fastening means in Steinhauser, Jr is required to absorb not only the detachment forces acting to separate the attachment plate from the adapter plate, but also the high lateral torque forces exerted during skating, which could lead to pre-mature failure of the fastening means and therefore the failure of the skate for its intended purpose. For example, if the adaptor plate is integrally formed with the skate boot/shoe as taught in Steinhauser, Jr, the failure of one fastening means would result in the entire boot being inoperable to secure separate use elements, absent replacement of the failed fastening means.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a commercially viable interchangeable skate which meets the primary criteria of a quickly exchangeable use element, as for example blades or in-line roller assemblies, and more importantly, providing a rigid, secure attachment of the use element to the boot which does not exhibit any play or relative movement between the use element and the boot, and which can support both the axial/verticle separating forces acting to separate the use element from the skate boot, and the high lateral torque forces exerted during skating.